College Sports Blog

Longhorns’ defensive back outlook: secondary will be strong despite losing three starters

If it says anything about the defensive back talent produced at Texas, three of last year’s starting cornerbacks (Aaron Williams, Curtis Brown and Chykie Brown) were taken in this year’s NFL draft even though the Longhorns went 5-7 in 2010.

Texas has had 12 defensive backs drafted in the last 10 years (a group that includes the likes of Earl Thomas, Michael Huff, Michael Griffin, Cedric Griffin, Nathan Vasher and Quentin Jammer).

The Longhorns will be thinner and more inexperienced at cornerback this season. But there’s a lot of young talent that will make immediate impacts.

Defensive backs coach Duane Akina was originally going to leave Texas back in December and take the same coaching position at Arizona, but he changed his mind last minute, which is comforting to the players who 1) have said they view Akina as a father and 2) have had to adjust to new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz.

2010 recap:
The brightest spot on last year’s team was the secondary. They finished 2010 as the nation’s sixth-best passing defense, allowing teams just 161.6 yards per game.

But the reason for that is that teams exploited Texas’ lack of a rush defense and racked up yards that way. However, besides the fact that the Longhorns couldn’t stop the run, opponents always knew heading into the game versus Texas that if the quarterback threw it, he’d take the risk of being intercepted (Texas led the league with 25 interceptions in 2009).

For example, Aaron Williams, Texas’ best defensive back in 2010, had zero interceptions mainly because quarterbacks purposefully never threw in his direction.

2011 outlook:
Blake Gideon is the leader of the secondary, no question. The senior has been a starter since his freshman year in 2008 and has more experience than any of the other defensive backs.

Look out for Kenny Vaccaro and Adrian Phillips to have big years in 2011. Vaccaro is the hardest hitter of any Longhorn and if all goes according to plan, he could head to the NFL draft after his junior year.

Last year, true freshmen Phillips, Carrington Byndom and A.J. White got a lot of playing time due to some starting players’ injuries. They were very impressive and the level of play never dropped when they were in the game. Look for those three to maybe getting starting nods.

With the loss of its three starting corners, Texas is considered thin at that position. However, look for freshman Quandre Diggs (Quentin Jammer’s little brother) to start either immediately or within the first few games. He graduated high school early and has been in Austin all spring, working out and bonding with his teammates. Players and coaches have said that Diggs is already one of the team’s best leaders, calling players up and organizing dinners, workouts, etc.

Age and experience mean nothing to Diggs, as he’s not afraid to get in his teammates’ faces and make plays. For example, in April’s spring game, Diggs beat receiver Mike Davis on his route and broke up Garrett Gilbert’s first pass into the end zone. He intercepted Gilbert a few plays later.

Akina has a solid group. They may be young (Gideon, Scott and Vaccaro are the only upperclassmen), but their talent might make up for that.